Something functional but ordinary

Cardboard boxes are usually just something we don’t think about too much. They serve a purpose- protect a package until it arrives then they’re just thrown away. However I was really interested in looking at other uses for these boxes... they don’t have to just be thrown away. The beauty of cardboard boxes is that they can be turned into anything! A dolls house, used for storage, as part of a children’s Halloween costume... there’s so many other uses yet we just throw them away!

Another way that boxes can be more than just things that we throw away is the shoebox appeal. Every year thousands of people put together a Christmas shoebox that is then sent to under developed countries. The shoeboxes are filled with gifts and are given to a child. These gifts are often the only present that child has ever received. But it’s not just what’s inside the box that is important. It’s the actual boxes themselves. That child might not have a place of their own to store some of their passions, this shoebox then acts as storage. Some don’t have bags to use for school, the box becomes a way to take pens and notebooks to school, the box might even become another toy as you don’t need a lot to make something form a shoebox!

When you next receive a package in a cardboard box, before you throw it away think about the other purposes it has and the good it can do.